Escape From Konoha

Konoha 56, April, early spring.

As the international environment stabilizes, the friction between Ninja Village and Ninja Village seems to have increased a lot.

Even though Konoha and Kumogakure were at war with each other a few years ago, as the daimyo of the two countries negotiated, businessmen from the two countries also began to cooperate closely.

The grudges between the ninjas seemed to have been put aside.

In such quiet days, everyone is enjoying the hard-won peace.

But for those who care, this is just a buffer time after the war.

Sooner or later, a ninja war will break out, maybe tomorrow, maybe next year.

Because of this, peace is so precious.

On such a sunny day, Kakashi held a copy of "Indulgence Paradise" in his hand while strolling through the streets of Konoha.

On the street lampposts on both sides, there are huge colorful posters with large borders.

It advertised a movie called "Princess of the Storm", starring Fenghua Koyuki, a famous figure in the Land of Snow.

An adolescent girl brimming with beauty and elegance can be said to be the biggest talking point in the ninja world these days.

Compared to the identity of the other Daimyo of the Land of Snow, Fenghua Koyuki, whose stage name is "Fuji Kazukie", is even more famous.

Compared with the movie "Princess of the Storm", the movie adapted from the novel "Intimate Love in Paradise" was also officially released a year ago... due to various censorship issues, the response was mediocre.

This is all due to the film company of the Kingdom of Ghosts, which cut most of the essence out of it. As a result, it was scolded by many readers and fans after it was released.

But it is said that the film companies in the Kingdom of Ghosts still made a lot of money despite the outcry.

This made Kakashi feel very regretful.

Why cut off the best part of it?

That is obviously one of the three ninjas, the true essence that Jiraiya-sama wants to express.

In short, after spending hundreds of taels to buy tickets to watch the movie, I was quite depressed at the time, and I complained to Ziyuanhua Film Production Company for a while.

This company has no idea how to make a successful movie.

Although I have become an adult, I still want to learn how to truly become an adult.

"well……"

Kakashi sighed softly, the sequel to "Intimate Love in Paradise" is far away, what will he do to pass the time next?

I really want to arrest Jiraiya-sama and lock him in a small dark room to write all day long.

Tracking down Orochimaru and the mysterious organization that Orochimaru belongs to, there is absolutely no need to do that kind of thing.

In Kakashi's opinion, Jiraiya was completely wasting his time.

In the ninja world, there are countless enthusiastic book fans who are waiting for the sequel to "Intimate Love in Heaven".

At this moment, he raised his head and looked at the sky. An eagle happened to fly overhead, so Kakashi stuffed "Intimate Heaven" into his ninja bag.

"Is it time?"

So, he used the teleportation technique to disappear from the place.

He quickly rushed to the ANBU headquarters building, where he changed into ANBU clothes and walked towards the work place.

"Captain Kakashi. You are here."

Arriving at the control room, Tenzo, who belonged to the second ANBU team and was the squad leader of the sixth squad, greeted Kakashi.

"Hmm...how's the situation?"

Kakashi looked at the picture on the screen, which showed the scene of the Uchiha clan's clan.

Both civilians and ninjas are under strict surveillance.

However, compared to those civilians, it is not that easy to monitor the ninjas of the Uchiha clan. Many Uchiha ninjas are unpredictable, and it is difficult to detect their whereabouts with instruments.

"It's become more and more frequent recently, and I always feel like nothing good will happen."

Tenzo pointed to a screen.

That screen was responsible for monitoring the Nanga Shrine of the Uchiha clan.

There is the gathering place of the Uchiha clan. It is said that there are things passed down from the ancestors of the Uchiha clan. However, only the insiders of the Uchiha clan know whether it is true or false, and outsiders cannot investigate.

The ANBU tried countless methods but could not get the core secret of Nanga Shrine.

"Really? I thought it was groundless, but things may not be optimistic..."

Kakashi muttered to himself.

"Captain Kakashi, could it be that..."

Tianzang's face under the mask suddenly changed.

Anyway, what Kakashi predicted was too exaggerated.

No matter how daring the Uchiha clan is, it is impossible to embark on that path.

"Didn't you notice that the friction between the security force and our Anbu fourth unit has been increasing recently?"

Kakashi asked rhetorically.

The fourth unit of the Anbu, in the non-war period, deals with the internal affairs of the village, and also includes solving the crimes in the village.

This business completely overlaps with the Uchiha clan's guard team.

Because they don't know whether the criminal incident should be handled by the police or the ANBU, the senior officials have not reached a unified conclusion. This is also the source of the conflict between the police and the ANBU.

To be honest, this kind of thing, in Kakashi's view, is simply incomprehensible.

Since there is already a special unit in Anbu to deal with crimes in the village, why set up a Uchiha clan security team?

This is not only superfluous, but also exacerbated the conflict between the Uchiha clan and Anbu.

Fortunately, in the past war period, the two sides can let go of their prejudices and unanimously communicate with each other.

However, now that we have entered a peaceful era, various contradictions have arisen.

Especially after the Nine-Tails Rebellion, conflicts between the Uchiha clan and high-level officials are inevitable.

Both sides did not negotiate, but instead suspected each other in the form of a cold war.

Anbu, caught in it, is the most uncomfortable one.

But this kind of thing, Kakashi knew that he couldn't change anything.

The internal affairs of Konoha would not be changed at all if the high-level officials did not let go.

The accumulation of usual friction may become the last straw that overwhelms the Uchiha clan.

After Tianzang listened, he didn't say anything, and he knew the facts Kakashi said.

Although he is not an ANBU member of the 4th Squadron, everyone works in the same building. When they meet each other on a regular basis, they will also hear complaints from the ANBU members of the 4th Squadron. They seem to be very dissatisfied with the Uchiha clan's arbitrary interference in criminal incidents within the village.

But the problem is that dealing with crimes within the village was originally the power assigned to the Uchiha clan during the Second Hokage period.

Thinking of this, Tianzang was a little confused.

I always feel like something is wrong somewhere.

Why do there need to be two units in a village to manage crimes within the village?

Didn't Naruto consider that only one unit is needed?

One more person will only cause conflicts between the two parties.

It's like the village only needs one Hokage. If there is another Hokage, who should we listen to?

The more Tenzo thought about it, the more headache he got. No matter what, it was impossible for the Hokage to make mistakes. After all, he was such a great being.

"What to do next?"

Tianzang was a little confused.

Kakashi was about to speak when a voice came from behind.

"Just report it truthfully."

The person who came in was wearing the same ANBU uniform and mask as Kakashi and Tenzo.

He is much shorter than an adult, and is obviously very young.

It is Itachi Uchiha.

"Good afternoon, Kakashi-senpai."

Itachi greeted Kakashi respectfully.

"You don't have to be so outspoken. You are now at the level of squad leader, and you are on the same level as me."

Kakashi said in an emotional tone.

Although Itachi had only been in ANBU for a little over two years, he had gradually grown from the lowest ANBU member to a squad leader, and now to a squad leader.

The speed of upgrading can be said to be unprecedented.

The name Uchiha Itachi is also extremely loud among ANBU.

Tenzo looked at Itachi with complicated eyes, thinking that Itachi, who was originally a member of his team two or three years ago, has not only left his team, but has also become the same team leader as Kakashi.

After spending so many years in the ANBU, I was just a squad leader.

Alas, is this the difference between mortals and geniuses? Tianzang sighed in his heart.

"But do you really want to report it? This is your tribe."

Kakashi said pointing to the picture on the screen.

"There is no need to test me like this, Kakashi-senpai. The ANBU is Konoha's ANBU. It is not a private force belonging to a certain family. It is only loyal to the village and the Hokage. Since they have strange thoughts, they naturally need to be on guard."

Itachi said firmly.

When he said this, he felt a little painful in his heart.

But he quickly made a choice between his family and the village.

Moreover, the Uchiha clan only has this motive, and it has not yet formed an iron-clad fact. There is still room for redemption.

"Really? Then let's do what you said. After all, this matter is of great importance and is not something we can decide."

Kakashi nodded.

As a Konoha ninja Kakashi, he was indeed testing Itachi.

"Then Hokage-sama, let me go over and report. Anyway, I am the most relaxed here."

"Please, Tenzo."

"This is my job, Captain Kakashi. Then I'll go over there."

Tenzo smiled, disappeared, and went to the Hokage Building to report on the surveillance situation here.

"It's hard for you, Itachi."

After Tenzo left, Kakashi said to Itachi. .

"This is the path I chose."

"Life like this is quite painful. Since it is your own choice, I can only wish you good luck, Itachi."

Kakashi patted Itachi on the shoulder, walked to the room on the side of the monitoring room, and started working.

◎

When the sun goes down, Nanga Shrine is shrouded in thin darkness.

On the stairs leading to the top of Nanga Shrine, Itachi saw a familiar figure in front of him and called out to him.

"Shisui."

"It's Itachi, long time no see."

Shisui turned his head and smiled after seeing Itachi, but his eyes could not hide the look of exhaustion.

"I haven't seen you recently. It'll be nice to see you're okay."

Itachi smiled relaxedly.

"Don't worry about my situation, I'm just going out on a mission, and I still have the business of the security force to deal with."

Shisui replied.

"Well, it's really hard work."

"It's okay. Compared to your hard work in ANBU, my hard work is nothing."

Shisui responded with a smile.

Is it hard? Itachi felt that he had no awareness of this aspect.

He was just fulfilling his duties as a Konoha ninja Uchiha Itachi.

"Okay, let's go up together. Today's meeting is very important."

"Um."

Follow Shisui and walk towards the buildings on the top of Nanga Shrine.

Itachi subconsciously glanced at the woods around Nanga Shrine, and then turned his gaze back calmly.

The surveillance equipment arranged by the ANBU was placed in that forest.

Except for the content of the meeting, the time of the meeting, and the prerequisite jonin of the Uchiha clan who participated in this important meeting, the senior officials knew everything about the meeting of the Uchiha clan.

One after another, ninjas from the Uchiha clan gathered.

Entering the secret room of the shrine, the family crest of the Uchiha clan is engraved on the wall, and the torch drives away the darkness.

More than thirty Uchiha ninjas gathered here.

They are all elite ninjas from the Uchiha clan who have awakened the Sharingan and are powerful.

Among them, Itachi is the youngest, but one of the most popular ones.

There is no other reason. He is the eyes placed by the Uchiha clan around the top officials.

Itachi can be used to capture the movements of high-level officials and Anbu, benefiting the Uchiha clan.

Sitting on the main seat, facing the leader of all the Uchiha clan ninjas, Itachi's father Uchiha Fugaku was different from the strict father figure in the family, but had a serious face, as if facing a formidable enemy.

Even her mother, Uchiha Mikoto, who used to have a kind face, also had a cold look on her face.

It was as if the person here was no longer an ordinary housewife, but an elite member of the Uchiha clan.

Itachi couldn't stand the atmosphere here, it was too depressing.

Every meeting made him feel irritated and depressed, worse than the atmosphere in ANBU.

It was clearly under the protection of the village, so why did he act like he was facing a powerful enemy in the territory of the village? Itachi felt very sad.

"According to the intelligence we received before, the ANBU is conducting strict surveillance on us. The residents surrounding the Uchiha clan are also leaving quietly one after another under high-level policies, as if to completely isolate us, the Uchiha clan. Same. The higher-ups don't regard us as fellow villagers at all. Clan leader, let's establish a political power belonging to the Uchiha clan. We can no longer let the will of the Senju dominate the village!"

The speaker was a male Uchiha ninja, with white hair cut short and slender eyes that seemed not to be opened.

The name is Uchiha Yashiro.

He is one of the representatives of the Uchiha radicals and the Uchiha ninja who is most disgusted with the high-level officials of Konoha.

His will can represent the will of the Uchiha radicals.

Although Konoha has entered a peaceful era in recent years, it may not be true peace for the Uchiha clan.

Due to the conflict between the ANBU and the security forces, residents continued to complain about the arrogant behavior of the Uchiha clan's security forces. The senior officials intended to separate a part of the space around the Uchiha clan's territory to keep residents away from the Uchiha clan.

This obvious isolation treatment has completely made the Uchiha radicals feel dissatisfied to the extreme.

The so-called establishment of a political power belonging to the Uchiha clan, in Itachi's opinion, is just a nice way of saying it. The real thing is to seize power through a coup.

In that case, the damage to the village would be too serious.

This method made Itachi very repelled.

It might become the trigger for the outbreak of war.

"Itachi, what do you think?"

Fugaku did not respond directly, but looked at Itachi.

After Fugaku's words, everyone's eyes focused on Itachi, making Itachi's breathing become very difficult.

Itachi nodded and replied: "Yes, the ANBU has indeed closely monitored our clan."

Because this cannot be refuted at all, and it cannot be concealed even if it is deliberately concealed.

Even if the ANBU's actions are very secretive and have the power of the entire village behind them, the Uchiha clan has a long history, and outstanding ninjas appear in every generation, so they will always notice something is wrong.

Before these tribesmen could start to agree, Weasel spoke again:

"Actually, I think the ANBU's monitoring is just in case. The family holds gatherings too frequently, so the ANBU will..."

"Then what do you think should be done?"

Uchiha Yashiro, who was originally pleasing to Itachi, immediately looked at him with unkind eyes.

"I think we should reduce the number of clan meetings and stay with ANBU for the time being..."

Itachi made his proposal.

However, Yashiro Uchiha sneered.

"Itachi, you haven't forgotten your family's teachings after staying in ANBU for a few years, right? Did the ANBU raise you, or did the clan raise you, give you ninjutsu, resources, and a noble status? Who do you stand on? On which side?"

"I'm not taking any side. I just think that the distinction between enemies and companions needs to be made clear."

Itachi insisted on his own opinion and believed that the views of his tribe were too extreme.

"Don't show me your incomprehensible stuff here. You just need to tell me which side you are on. Could it be that just because the higher-ups gave you the position of captain of the ANBU, you can forget about your family? Without the support of your family, how will your ideal of Hokage be realized?"

Uchiha Yatsushiro looked at Itachi aggressively, with a very tough attitude.

Pedantic! Itachi was dissatisfied.

It is because of wanting to become Hokage that one cannot confine his eyes to the narrow thinking of a clan.

If you can't look beyond the clan, you can't become Hokage and change the fate of the clan, the village and the world.

Itachi frowned, noticing that many clansmen were looking at him with dissatisfaction in their eyes.

Only Shisui and his mother Mikoto looked at him with worried eyes, signaling him not to say anything irritating to his tribe.

His father Fugaku was also looking at him with a cold look, hoping that he would firmly express his position.

Itachi felt disappointed. Most of the tribesmen here had lost their rationality.

So does his father.

"I am Itachi of the Uchiha clan."

Itachi had no choice but to answer this, not letting the situation get completely out of control.

"Hmph." Uchiha Yashiro let Itachi go, but his eyes when he looked at Itachi were already full of vigilance, and he no longer trusted Itachi as before.

At such an important moment, a person who is ambiguous between his family and the village is really a time bomb.

If it weren't for the fact that the other party was the son of the clan leader and held the position of captain of the ANBU, he would have directly taken action and monitored Itachi to prevent him from coming to cause trouble.

After the meeting, Fugaku called Itachi aside and looked at Itachi with a frown: "Why did you say that at the meeting?"

Itachi remained silent.

Fugaku could only sigh and patted Itachi on the shoulder.

"Don't irritate Yashiro and the others in the future. He has been dissatisfied with the village and the higher-ups for too long. When Uchiha Ruri didn't defect, he was the leading radical in the family."

"In other words, father agreed, right?"

The so-called establishment of Uchiha's political power in the village.

Itachi raised his head and met Fugaku's eyes.

Fugaku looked complicated, but in the end he just sighed again and nodded.

Itachi was startled. He had thought that his father, who had a tough expression at the meeting just now, would firmly support the radicals' approach.

Looking at it now, Fugaku did not want to solve the problem in this way. He was just forced to a dead end by Yashiro and other radical tribesmen. He could only go to the dark side with no way up or down.

When Fugaku saw Itachi was still silent, he turned around, pointed to the distance and asked Itachi:

"Do you know what's there?"

Itachi looked in the direction of Fugaku's finger.

"There are the shadow rocks of the four Hokages."

The symbol of Hokage, carved there in recognition of the achievements of the Hokage, has not faded even after the baptism of time.

"The only thing missing from it is the name of the Uchiha clan."

Fugaku said in a deep voice.

There was a light called ambition in his eyes.

On the one hand, he was forced by Yashiro Uchiha and others, but he also longed in his heart to lead his family into a higher realm.

That is to let the Uchiha clan give birth to a Hokage to guide Konoha forward, and not let the Senju clan stand at the top forever.

"I understand, Father."

Itachi nodded, as if he understood something.

A clan that is bound by power and ignores the stability of the village is really an ugly sight.

Fugaku smiled happily.

"As expected of my child, okay, let's go home, Sasuke should be waiting impatiently."

"No, there is still work on the ANBU side. I hope to do more for the family."

Itachi and Fugaku looked at each other.

Fugaku touched his chin and agreed to come down.

"Okay, but don't force yourself too much and come back early."

"yes."

Itachi knew that although his father Fugaku did not explicitly agree to the coup in the meeting just now, his silent attitude had already decided everything.

Whether it was because he was being chased or he had such an idea in the first place, his father Fugaku did not intend to take a gentle approach to the village.

You must take action yourself.

After Itachi left, Fugaku paused for a moment, and just as he was about to leave, a figure rushed towards him.

It's Shisui.

The mainstay of the family is also the younger generation of ninjas that Fuyue admires.

The future Uchiha patriarch will be elected between him and Itachi.

"Shishui, what are you doing here at this time?"

"Clan leader, is Itachi here?"

Shisui asked.

"He went to work overtime at the ANBU."

Fugaku answered.

After Zhisui heard this, his heart sank.

"Sorry, patriarch, I have something urgent to discuss with Itachi, I'm sorry."

After finishing speaking, Shisui rushed towards Hokage Building without waiting for Fugaku's response.

Itachi... don't do anything stupid! Zhishui was burning with anxiety.

If Itachi chooses to go home, then nothing will happen, and there is still room for turning around.

If Itachi went to Anbe, or the Hokage Building, the situation would be really bad.

(PS: Actually, I have been struggling with who told the high-level officials of Konoha about the Uchiha coup. After thinking about it carefully, I decided to let Itachi do it. Because unlike Itachi, Shisui wanted both the family and the village to Saving does not mean favoring one person alone, otherwise he would not be so desperate that he committed suicide in the original work. Therefore, when Shisui knew that the family wanted a coup, his first thought was definitely not to report to the top management of Konoha, but to find a way internally Solve it. And Itachi is completely on the side of Konoha. In terms of the proportion of the village and the family, and from the perspective of the village, it is more likely to inform the top management of Konoha.)